Kurt Vile at the Forum, NW5

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As befits a man who until recently was working as a forklift truck operator, there was no attempt at show business artifice at this Philadelphia musician’s biggest UK show yet. Shuffling on stage behind a curtain of hair with his three-piece band in tow, Kurt Vile began by tuning up his guitar — or perhaps actually playing an instrumental piece, it was hard to tell.

However, before you knew it, a loose jam had morphed into Baby’s Arms, a beautiful, perfectly crafted love song from Vile’s fourth, breakout album, Smoke Ring for my Halo. Here was a singer-songwriter with a rare